Cancer statistics: Lung

Lung cancer: Incidence

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK. In 2008, 40,747 cases of lung cancer were diagnosed.

Of these cancer cases, 22,820 were in men, and 17,927 were in women.

Lung cancer: Mortality

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death in the UK. In 2009, there were 35,053 deaths from lung cancer.

Of these deaths, 19,756 were men and 15,297 were women.

Proportion preventable

By far the most important thing for reducing risk of lung cancer is not smoking. But scientists also estimate the following proportion of lung cancer cases could be prevented in the UK:

Lifestyle factor	Does doing more increase or decrease risk?	Approximate % preventable in UK through healthy changes
Fruits	Decrease	33

There is also convincing evidence that supplements containing beta-carotene increase risk of lung cancer. This is one of the reasons WCRF UK recommends not using supplements to protect against cancer.

You can find out more about how these preventability estimates were calculated. For detailed information about what change would be needed for each factor, download Appendix A of the Policy Report on the Diet and Cancer Report website.

The figures on incidence and mortality come from the following sources: for England (incidence); for Wales (incidence); for England and Wales (mortality); for Scotland; and for Northern Ireland.